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CCCA61_039-043.qxd:CCCA_V1No1_DriversSeat-FIN.qxd 02/07/2008 06:16 PM Page 41 Feature Howard Kaufman Senior Counsel Fasken Martineau LLP Toronto Younger lawyers routinely turn to the Internet and social network- of lawyers at a luncheon. ing as a way to further their careers. One challenge, therefore, lies “Sometimes we talk about new ventures as trends, and then, in convincing time-stretched, mid-career law firm practitioners there’s new ventures that are simply trendy, but I think Legal and in-house lawyers — Lippe says the typical person who con- OnRamp has legs,” says Kaufman. tacts LOR is a 53-year old general counsel — that there’s enough Dennis Kennedy, a lawyer and legal technologist in St. Louis, critical mass to make logging on worth the time and effort. agrees with Kaufman that critical mass is the key to making And, as with Facebook or LinkedIn, users will need to devote LOR a “silo of choice” in attracting enough law firm and in- the time to making LOR work for them.That means actively house counsel members to make it a “go to” site. devoting time to increasing their network of contacts, posting “If you look at the whole history of the Internet, it’s all about answers or enhancing their posted profile. critical mass and creating communities,” says Kennedy, the Howard Kaufman, senior counsel with Fasken Martineau LLP author of the forthcoming book The Lawyer’s Guide to in Toronto, admits he probably doesn’t “spend as much time as I CollaborationTools andTechnologies. should” on LOR, maybe half an hour every few weeks. But as “It can be a little more difficult to create that sense of com- more information comes on line,he’s becoming more diligent in munity in the business sector. It’s certainly harder than trying to monitoring what’s posted.And he knows that he needs to share start a community dedicated to an upcoming tour by Led information, too. “There’s got to be a willingness to share.You Zepplin; how do you create the ‘I’ve got to know’ momentum can’t just take, you’ve got to give back to the system.” on a legal-specific site?” Kaufman sees LOR as a valuable tool for both law firms and in-house counsel, pointing out that the content can be “intellec- Supply and demand tually stimulating,” comparable to having a debate with a group Legal OnRamp is not the first attempt to create a law firm/in- PRINTEMPS 2008 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 41